Scotchgard: Prepper Gold

Scotchgard has been around for decades, but I have recently run across several folks who never heard of it, so I thought I should make all of my loyal readers, both of them, aware of this useful product.

What is Scotchgard?

Scotchgard is a spray that can be applied to any fabric and make it somewhat water repellant.  It won’t make it completely water tight like plastic, but it will give the fabric the ability to repel water while letting air breathe.

You can get specialty fabrics like Gore-Tex that have similar qualities, but you can simply spray Scotchgard on any fabric and the treatment makes the fabric relatively water repellant.  I use it on every backpack in the Paranoid household.  It is enough to keep the contents dry in a light rain, but if you’re going to drop your pack in a stream, you’re asking too much.

Have you ever taken a coat to the dry cleaner and when it came back it just didn’t repel rain as well?  Give it a spray with Scotchgard.  Are your carpets getting wet and dirty from people tracking in rain or snow?  Time to use Scotchgard again.

History of Scotchgard

Scotchgard is a product of 3M Company, which makes thousands of different products that you are already familiar with, like Scotch Tape and Post It Notes.  Like a lot of 3M products, the formula for Scotchgard was discovered in 1952 by accident.

Post It Notes were the result of a discovery of an adhesive that didn’t stick very well.  3M seems to do a lot of “accidental” discovery.  They seem to be trying to discover one thing and trip over something else.

The product was introduced commercially in 1956 and was something of a hit until Gore-Tex came along in 1969.  However, Scotchgard can be applied to any fabric, even one that was not made to be water repellant in the first place.  Gore-Tex diminished the need for Scotchgard on things like rain coats, but sales have continued to the present day.

Scotchgard for every purpose

While this product has been on the market for over 60 years, I seem to lately be running into people who have leaky backpacks and have never heard of Scotchgard.  I don’t recall seeing any advertising for Scotchgard since the 1960s, (yeah, I’m that old!) so I guess it needs a little TV time to remind people that it is still on the market.

Uses for Preppers

The most obvious use for Scotchgard is for BOBs.  It is important that any backpack be able to repel water or a simple walk in the rain will result in the pack, and its contents, becoming a water-soaked mess.  If you take the further step of placing the contents of your pack into Zip Lock bags, you’ll not only be able to take a walk in the rain, but a fall into a stream as I mentioned earlier will have limited consequences.  You may be soaked but your BOB won’t be.  😊

Any sort of tent will benefit from a spray of Scotchgard.  While many tents today are made of a Gore-Tex type of material, older tents may be of canvas, or simply have lost some of their water repelling properties, due to age and use.  By giving them a Scotchgard treatment, the water repelling quality of the fabric will be brought back to life.

Sleeping bags, stuff sacks, and other fabric items will benefit from Scotchgard.

Outerwear, such as coats, pants, and especially rain coats, can be made much more water repellant simply by treating them with Scotchgard.  Note that dry cleaning tends to remove water repelling characteristics, so retreat clothing that has made a trip to the dry cleaners.

Scotchgard not only repels water, but also helps resist dirt being ground into fabric, so your outerwear will remain cleaner as well as dryer thanks to Scotchgard.

Summary

Being an old curmudgeon has advantages, like remembering obscure but useful products that are still on the market.  I keep a couple spray cans of Scotchgard on the shelf.  I would probably do so even if I wasn’t a prepper.  If you’ve never tried Scotchgard, pick up a can and test it for yourself.  If you like the results, buy more!  😊